Working on a Dream

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Baby Anthony, The Story: Part 1

Let me invite you back to at time where sitting by the waters right outside the Rock N Roll hall of fame
where two people on their first date falling in love…

There names are Anthony & Christen.

It was sitting by the rolling waves; I asked Christen what she most wanted out of life
Her answer was short and it was quick, “I want to be a wife and a mother.”

About a year and a half latter, we were married and she became one of those.
As a wife, Christen has been stellar.
I know of no women who has captured their husbands heart like my wife does.
People still ask us how long we have been married.
And when we tell them about 5 years, they usually just remain silent (as they mistake us for newlyweds.)

Fast forward to May 25th 2011.

I walked into the house and there Christen was standing with a huge smile holding a plastic stick with a “plus” sign on it.
She gave it to me and I looked at it and then gave it back to her.
She then explained to me that a “plus” sign meant we were pregnant!

The second part of her dream was now coming true! She was on her way to becoming a mommy.

As the months continued to roll on and her belly started to grow.
We noticed how much the baby was moving around. And I was convinced that the baby would grow up to be a Ninja.

Then, it came time to find out if we were going to have a boy or a girl…we elected not to.
We wanted a surprise!

That meant the baby’s room was going to be green and yellow.
Right away we started removing old unused items from the house to make room for the baby (Christen told me that we were “nesting.”)
I liked that idea, so I started doing more daddy things to get me ready for this big part of our lives.

I assembled the crib, I put together a bathroom vanity, and I erected an armoire.
Honestly, each and very time I would embark on something knew I would get frustrated and I would want to quit…but that is not the kind of dad I was going to be for my child.
So I pressed on and completed each task in anticipation of reminding the little one of how much I loved him/her when they would walk past one of those 3 items…

One of the funny things Christen and I would do is after each and every holiday; we would remind ourselves that this was our last being just the two of us.
We didn’t know what to expect when the little one came.
How much would our lives be disrupted?
Would mom ever trust dad to change, feed, hold, bath, or stroll the baby alone? :)

We decided that whatever happened we would look at our new life as an adventure…
And on Monday, January 10th that adventure started.

It started with an abrupt phone message from Christen’s doctor.

“Anthony, get to the hospital, I have to perform an emergency C-Section on Christen!"

When I got that message…my mind and my heart stood as still as the black night.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

What a beautiful picture.I pray for peace for you both and pray that God will give you the strength to get through the days ahead.I pray for healing for you and your family and I know that God will be there for you always and will help you through this painful journey.I will keep you in my prayers.

Anthony, right now I have no words to describe you....I am grateful to call you my cousin, extremely sad that I live so far away....I wish I was able to be their and hear your beautiful words on a daily basis. From Az you inspire me and bless my life in so many ways. This is so sad reading your beautiful love story.....I can't stop crying. You & Christen are truly truly blessed. Blessed in ways most marriages envy. Your God filled world is beautiful. I am so so sorry you lost your angelic son. He is with nonnon and Jesus. God will give you strength & love & peace to heal and continue your journey. I wish I was there tomorrow. So badly. I love you so much. Everytime I read your words they go straight to my heart and overpower me. Your amazing. Again, I'm thankful I call you family and I love you and Christen both. Love Gina